Pastor Jeffrey explores the familiar story of Jesus attacking the money-changers in the Temple. However, he cites the version from John, which places it much earlier in Jesus’ ministry than the other three . . . a moment of “Righteous Anger” that defined much of his ministry. Jeffrey suggests that this same righteous anger .…
This week Pastor Jeffrey unpacks the great turning point in Jesus’s ministry, when the disciples first dare to voice the idea that he is the prophesied Messiah, and Jesus reveals the cost this will entail. In our own lives we sometimes face such a choice: the chance to do something important that requires a seeming…
For the first Sunday of Lent, Pastor Jeffrey unpacks the story of Satan’s tempting of Jesus in the wilderness. He notes that we all have contemporary “wilderness” experiences, especially in this time of Covid. Jeffrey discusses practical ways to fend off those temptations and stick to the path we know, in our hearts, is the…
On this, Transfiguration Sunday, Pastor Jeffrey explores the nature of the “Mountaintop” experiences that happen a few times in most people’s lives.. He notes that, although these moments stay with us for life, they are not an end in themselves. They are a point of departure, and what truly matters is what we DO with…
In pop culture, prayer is most often depicted as what you do when you’re in deep trouble and nothing else you’ve tried is working. (That’s why we call a desperate long pass in football a “Hail Mary.” ) However, today’s scripture reading is about Jesus making the time to pray when his ministry was on…
Pastor Jeffrey examines a critical episode from the church’s founding: the encounter between Peter and the Roman centurion Cornelius. This was when God made clear to Peter that all people are equally welcome in His church . .. a message that the church has, sadly, spent much of the last 2000 years trying to ignore.
Pastor Jeffrey reviews Mark’s familiar story of the start of Jesus’ ministry to ask what a call like that to the fishermen could look like in today’s world. Even today, some people do drop everything and change their life dramatically, but an invisible, internal change – – a decision to be more intentional about what…
On the eve of the day celebrating the life of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Pastor Jeffrey examines the nature of callings – – from the grand, like Dr. King’s, that change history, to the intimate, which may elevate only our own life. As a special treat, we visit New York’s historic Abyssinian Baptist Church…
The flight of Joseph, Mary and the baby into Egypt to escape Herod is central to the foundation of Christianity, and the obligation to extend care to such refugees is a commandment of all major religions. On this first Sunday after Epiphany, Pastor Jeffrey explores this idea and its enormous importance still today. We also pray for our nation after this week’s…
For our first service in the new year, Pastor Jeffrey examines the story of the three wise men. The important part of the story is that they were people who acted on a sign of hope they received in a troubled time. What signs or directions from God might be out there for our own…